Letters to the Editor Yes to a Longer School Year To the Editor: Why do our children have 11 weeks of summer vacation? Many years ago, 85 percent of Americans worked on farms. Children y needed summer vacation because they helped with the farm work. Today, only 3 percent of Americans work on farms. But our children still have long summer vacations. We have to change the school schedule. 2 students lose between one and American two months of learning during their summer vacations. We call this summer learning loss." Away from school for so many weeks, students forget what they learned. Experts say that students lose math skills and reading skills. At the beginning of school in September, teachers need to review last years studies for the first four to six weeks of school. This is not a good use of classroom time.